An Age of Tyrants; Britain and the
Britons, A.D. 400-600 (1998) by
Christopher A. Snyder

Snyder provides a thorough
survey and evaluation of the documentary and archaeological evidence for
the Fifth and Sixth Centuries in Britain, the dark period of Arthurian
British history, lying between the Roman and Anglo-Saxon times.
Snyder intentionally covers
only with those surviving documents that are contemporary to the period
including St. Patrick, Gildas, and the Life of Saint Germanus, while
carefully ignoring those that were written later and were compilations of
earlier lost or oral histories and stories such as Bede and Nennius, and
chronicles such as the Annales Cambriae and Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. By so
doing, he hopes to avoid the controversial questions about the historical
Arthur. The book provides insight into this period of great changes and
upheaval, showing how Roman political and social institutions and concepts
evolved to deal with these new threats. The book is not as grand a scope
as Alcock's Arthurís Britain, but is still a valuable addition to
studies of this period.